Helvetica

[Duer 157099]

Swear to God I never knew what a big deal this was until tonight when I watched some PBS show about it. And honestly, after watching the full hour, they never really described exactly *what* Helvetica was and how it differed from other fonts, except to generalize about the serif vs sans-serif.

Apparently it's some freaking BIG deal in the graphic design world. Or something.

[Jamastiene]

1. Well, it beats most reality shows.

I would imagine that would be an interesting thing to watch. I wonder when it comes on again. :)

I'm a font freak. If I had my way, I'd use either the Old English font or the Kidnap font everywhere.

[blogslut]

2. I love that doc!

I came away with a whole new reverence for Helvetica. Mind you, I prefer san-serif typeface/fonts to begin with but I wasn't aware of the history of Helvetica and how it was once considered revolutionary. That one typographer that hated Helvetica had a point. Helvetica is boring and ubiquitous but that's the thing, It's meant to be just that - clear, simple and dependable, comforting in its standardization.

These days I'm totally into sans-serif fonts/typefaces with rounded arms, legs, tails and descenders. The red font in my sig image is rounded like that.

I am also anxious to see the other film the makers of Helvetica released earlier this year:

http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/

[velvet]

3. I'd like to see that

And "Objectified" that blogslut mentioned. I wonder what the third film in the series will be about.

I love typography, with or without serifs. I have an unquenchable thirst for fonts.

[Graybeard]

4. Netflix has Helvetica.

I rented it and it is a fascinating doc. This graphic design is used by countless companies in their logos. We are literally surrounded by it. However the argument that it represents some insidious fascist conformity seems silly to me.